Police arrest 43 involved in cheating

Police spokesman Maj General Piya Uthayo told the press yesterday that 43 of the 49 people wanted for their role in the police entrance exam cheating case were in custody.

Meanwhile, the police is still checking to see if the body found in Saraburi is that of 29-year-old fugitive Wibulsak Saenjak, who is reportedly linked to the gang's mastermind, he said.

Piya added that police had decided to level three charges: public fraud culminating in asset-seizure according to the Anti-Money Laundering law; violating the Radio Communications Act by using signal-transmitting devices to cheat in the exam; and forging state-issued documents for the test.

Though a new police entrance exam will be held in early August, he said those in the administration, crime-prevention and suppression streams would be tested on a different date and at a different venue. Plus, the exams would be held at different times in different venues.

Urging all applicants to spend this month preparing for the test, which will be made more difficult, he said police will release the names of those who are not eligible for the test by mid-July, once the investigation into the cheating case has been completed.

As for the unidentified body found in an oil barrel thrown into a well in a Saraburi tapioca plantation being that of Wibulsak, Piya said forensic experts were still examining the body.

Admitting that the clothes on the body were similar to what Wibulsak was reportedly wearing, police would still summon the suspect's mother to help identify the body.

Pol General Pansiri Prapawat agreed that it could not be confirmed if the body was that of Wibulsak, adding that it was pending forensic tests. He also said that police had heard that Wibulsak was hiding in the capital.

The body is currently undergoing autopsy at Thammasat Chalermphrakiat Hospital in Pathum Thani.

In related news, police in Songkhla's Chana district announced that they had arrested Nittaya Srinuan-in and her son Panas in Sukhothai for forging documents in order to let other people take the entrance exams on behalf of the applicants. However, the suspects have denied the charges. Police have also issued arrest warrants for four other people.